Justice, at the End of the Day [Batman]

[Bruce Wayne]

Batman watched Hawkgirl's reaction closely. Even concealed by her helmet, the sudden shift in her demeanor was clear. More than that, these cues were all quite familiar. An unintentional tipping of an emotional vulnerability… a chink in the armor, perhaps? Interesting.

The reference to a commanding officer was a clear trigger. An old mentor? A friend? It could even be someone she lost long before she left her home world. Nonetheless, it’s a very…. human… reaction.

The moment, however, passed just as quickly as it appeared as she switched gears with a snide little jab. She, quite predictably, shot down his ultimatum, but in a way that posed a direct challenge. This was more than a refusal to play by his rules, it was charged with contempt for his entire philosophy. She was speaking from a lifetime of experience, not merely as a crime fighter, but as a hardened soldier who had faced threats beyond anything this world had to offer. There was no doubt that Hawkgirl came from a military background, the casual bravado and eagerness to pull rank were enough to prove that point on its own. He didn’t question her experience, nor was he willing to assume that she took life gladly – but this was his battlefield, and he was the one to define the terms of engagement here.

What Batman needed to do now, was to draw a line in the sand, one that he didn’t feel that he needed to justify. She could challenge and scoff all she wanted, but it wouldn’t matter. There was a price to doing business in Gotham.

He took a step forward, his scalloped cape blowing in the evening breeze. Beneath the cowl, his features remained firm, and his lips tightened around his teeth. He leaned down and spoke in a low, hoarse growl. “Careful,” He warned. “I wouldn’t be so quick to assume what I find agreeable."

His eyes narrowed in on her, examining her every move intently behind the cowl’s lenses. At his side, his hand hovered over the side of his belt as though preparing for a quick draw. If she wanted to fight, she had the advantage here: she had better mobility, and there was a lack of suitable cover. He needed to keep her on the ground if she tried anything, and finding a way to ensnare her wings wasn’t likely to be an option. A well placed zap was likely to be his best bet. She was sturdier than a human, yes, but he was willing to bet that fifty-thousand volts would still pack a punch.

“I make it my business to know things… things that are only whispered, not spoken. The kinds of secrets your little toy there won’t help you find.” The impatience in his voice was evident. He didn’t find this kind of posturing amusing, nor did he have time for these little contests. If she wanted to get anything done in Gotham, she’d learn that The Batman was somebody you wanted on your side. “You need me more than I need you… officer…”

[Shayera Hol]

Though she'd already been watching him, as Batman took that one step closer Hawkgirl's gaze became more focused and intense, now watching him just as intently as he regarded her. Perhaps even more so, because though his eyes remained hidden behind his cowl's lenses, her helmet did nothing to disguise her open regard. If he didn't know what it meant to be watched like a hawk before, he did now.

As she finished stretching her hands, in spite of the increasing tension she let them fall in a relaxed fashion to her sides. But the casual motion only thinly disguised how it put her hand within inches of the handle of her mace, currently attached to her right hip. Potentially a defensive move, given the fact that she's never hit anyone with it since arriving on Earth, instead mostly using it to deflect bullets or, rarely, to quickly break an object. On the other hand, form follows function - especially when it comes to weaponry - and if her mace was truly meant to be defensive it would not be a mace. But her hand makes no further move toward it, ready but not announcing she was ready.

In direct contrast to Batman's thoughts of possible tactics, her mind was clear of nearly anything beyond the conversation at hand. She'd had the luxury of pondering such things beforehand when she'd planned this visit to Gotham, including how little she knew about Batman and his methods. It was tactics that led her to choose this location away from distraction, surrounded by sky, and with no place to hide. And because she had no intention of starting a fight here, though she was always ready for one, she had nothing more to consider unless and until he decided to make the first move. And at that point, she was good at adapting to the situation, or at least she thought so.

In the meantime, she appeared to be fully unmoved by his warning and gave no reply to it beyond a narrowing of her eyes. Neither his growling words nor the possible threat behind them seemed to phase her in the least - he simply did not intimidate her. And he'd have to do more than posture to pick a fight with her. Instead, she literally stood her ground, letting him see as much, watching him watch her.

His impatient allusions to his superior knowledge did seem to get more of her attention, but at the same time, that's what caused her wings to bristle, her eyes to narrow, and her jaw to tense. "And still, somehow, I have lived without you," she snapped back, somewhat offended, but she took a breath to calm her temper before she added, "This is not about anyone needing anyone. It is about shared interests. And me being able to act with wisdom is not up for discussion. I have my doubts you would allow it yourself."

Or at least he didn't seem like the type who would respect demands made about important matters by someone he'd literally just met. What he was asking was completely unreasonable, in her opinion.

[Bruce Wayne]

While Batman’s mind was very rooted in the matter at hand, the nature of the individual before him demanded some consideration. In most instances, Batman was able to properly account for an individual’s abilities and vulnerabilities in advance – create a dossier, a record of known associates, psychological profile, etc. Although he had taken note of her activities in St. Roch, he had yet to complete a thorough appraisal, and he knew very little about her when compared to Superman or the Red Speedster. This was more than a conversation; it was his first serious tactical analysis of an unknown variable, and that required him to think more than act.

One thing was certain though, and that was Hawkgirl’s ability to handle herself. She bristled at his remark, and he simply allowed her to snap back without returning fire himself. Batman didn’t doubt her ability to handle herself – she was clever, alert, and clearly able to approach things tactically. The streets of Gotham, however, were the front lines of a very different kind of war. His own vast intel network aside, Batman could disappear and roam with anonymity. Bruce Wayne could navigate the glittering world of champagne and corruption, but he could just as easily disappear down into the depths and walk the enemy camps as one of their own. She could soar above the city, but he could walk amongst them and see the streets through their eyes.

“I can see that,” he said, acknowledging the quip with indifference. “But bashing a few heads together will only get you so far in Gotham… if you expect me to believe our ‘interests’ are truly shared, then you’ll have to show me that you understand subtlety and restraint.” The irritation in his tone echoed her dismissive antipathy from earlier, he had no reason to believe her experience outmatched her. She was new to Gotham, unproven and untrained. If she wanted to involve herself in his city, then she had to impress him, not the other way around.

Despite her earlier irritation, Hawkgirl kept herself calm and collected, but Batman hadn’t failed to notice that her hand was now inches from the mace that dangled off her belt. He didn’t begrudge the gesture; it was a defensive move, not a threat or a show of force. Not unlike her weapon of choice, Hawkgirl had been nothing if not blunt and direct thus far. If she wanted a fight, there was no reason why she wouldn’t have communicated that already. So, that placed the two of them in something of a stalemate, each one waiting for the other to make a first move. If she wasn’t going to initiate, then the taser wouldn’t be necessary... but still, he wanted to test her a bit.

In a flash, he shot his hand down to his utility belt, and with a quick snap, removed an object from his belt before his arm shot back up. The motion caused his cape to suddenly billow and swell outward, lending the movement an audible whoosh as the memory cloth flapped against the wind.  The motion was too fast to make out any details, but he was unmistakably pointing the tip of the device right between her eyes. He held it aloft, his arm stiff and steady, and pressed down with his thumb -- the device made a small click, and a green light flashed from the end.

Not far cross the harbor, a small shape shot across the purple twilight sky and began to grow rapidly as it came into clearer view. A boom echoed across the water as the shape slowly transformed into the image of a sleek, black jet with jagged wings that effortlessly carved through the sky. The thunderous crack was accompanied by a small chirp from the device. This object was the remote that Batman had used earlier to recall the Batwing. The new plane was taking its time, it needed time to be properly broken in , why not give it a little push and activate the boosters… maybe he could also appraise just how Hawkgirl would respond to him making a first move. Let's test the waters, see just how jumpy she is.

[Shayera Hol]

Given the turn in the conversation, Hawkgirl's expression had likewise taken a turn toward a serious, no-nonsense frown. At least until about a second after he stated that she needed to prove herself, when she'd had enough time for it to really register in her brain. It then shifted very rapidly to surprise and disbelief - seriously?!? It wasn't that he needed her to prove herself that was hard for her to believe, because that was to be expected anywhere she went. He'd yet to prove himself to her, for that matter. It was what he wanted her to prove that surprised her - clearly he was utterly unaware of anything she'd done since she'd arrived on the planet. Or at least that's what it seemed to her.

But before she could translate her objections into articulable words - both the surprise and her language difficulties slowing her down - her eyes and attention were instantly locked onto a sudden movement. Though her eyes were far more capable than a human's and able to identify the same object from before even as it was pointed in her direction, that still didn't mean she had any idea what it was. She actually did know a lot about current human weaponry, including what guns and tasers generally look like and do. She also knew that humans did not know how to make a long list of devices so it probably wasn't any of those. But knowing what it probably wasn't was not exactly helpful.

Besides, he hadn't given her any time to ponder such things - she could only react according to her instincts to a situation full of unknowns. Instincts that had been carefully honed by years of training, which was easy enough to see in her reaction. Without thought she instantly shifted into a proper fighting stance - which wasn't difficult to identify as such even though the form was unfamiliar to anyone on this planet but herself. The legs were standard enough, her right leg turning sideways and back to ensure solid footing. Then again, one might have expected someone with wings to stand more lightly on their feet. Her upper body, however, tilted forward in a way that no human would - it only made it more difficult to protect the head for no real benefit. But in her case, it repositioned her wings from being directly behind her to almost above her, which obviously made it easier to get them involved in any action - though what that amounted to could only be guessed when only observing her stance. Meanwhile, her left arm was raised to just below chin level, and the right actually took hold of the mace, which easily detached from her belt with only a twist.

The instant shift of her body and the complete ease of the movement spoke clearly of formal combat training, honed over a long period of time. This wasn't something that had been clear from what was mostly security camera footage of her beating up thugs down in St. Roch - there she had simply used her strength to overpower them without much technique. Though to be fair, Batman might well have done the same if he'd had her strength advantage. But abruptly placed in a situation with so many unknowns? That's the moment to be at the top of your game.

Yet what also spoke of training was the fact that she remained in that position - watching, waiting. Patience, discipline. Eyes locked on to the device and the one holding it, ready to act, but given no actual attack, she offered none herself - some combination of confidence and/or recklessness allowed her to wait and see what the device did first. She didn't trust it, but a click and a little green light is harmless. Not that the concept of remotely controlled devices was foreign to her either, so she was slow to lower her guard even though the dramatically pointed device wasn't immediately harmful. In fact, the sound from the jet that followed caught her attention, which was easy to see from the way he head turned slightly at the sound to better hear it, though her eyes remained on Batman.

And the jet was the clue she needed to understand what was going on - he had just said he needed to prove her restraint, after all. She quietly scoffed to herself and looked annoyed, though her lips toyed with the idea of going back to her earlier smirk at the same time. "Very funny," she commented, though her flat tone and mixed body language made the words a bit more sarcastic than not. She gave a grumbling sigh as she relaxed her stance slightly, though not fully because now she doesn't trust him to not try something similar again immediately. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to do what I do and not kill a human?" she rhetorically asked, "And I've not done it once." She shook her head and muttered her further thoughts out loud to herself, "Thinks I need to show him that I have restraint..." Not for the first time in this conversation Batman has struck a nerve.

Though he may notice that she's seemed to have skipped over objecting to what he'd said about subtlety. But that's because she's just fine at being subtle when she needs to. Which is not very often because it's just not that useful of a skill. So instead of worrying over that she's busy restraining an impulse to retaliate in a more non-verbal way - the mere thought of which is enough to make her wings twitch. But she's more invested in attempting to get along than he is, clearly, and she doesn't yet know him well enough to know what he'd be willing to forgive.